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Las Posadas – An annual tradition

Las Posadas is a pre-Christmas tradition in some Latin-American communities. Mary and Joseph search the neighborhood for shelter, knocking on doors until they are accepted into a home. At Chicago’s Lathrop Homes, (one of the two last public housing developments on the North Side of the city) this tradition has become a particularly poignant annual event. Mary and Joseph lead a procession of current and former residents around the shuttered complex. Local churches and community organizations join in to draw attention to the dire lack of affordable housing in this part of the city. The Chicago Housing Authority began moving people out of Lathrop fifteen years ago but no progress on rehabilitation or redevelopment of the site has been made. About 800 apartments sit empty as tens of thousands of Chicago families linger on the CHA’s waiting lists every year.

A view of the only inhabited portion of the Lathrop Homes today. Looking south down Hoyne from Diversey